Can't Let You Go
by mkalii
Summary: From the beginning of Zendaya Coleman's time on DWTS, clear lines were drawn in regards to the extent of her partner relationship with Valentin Chmerkovskiy. Val admits publicly that he cares for Zendaya, the public unaware of what it actually meant. Will Val cross the uncrossable line and take a leap of faith?
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, this is a little Zendaya/Val fanfic. OMG, I feel like Val's cheating on Aria. (if you don't know, she's from another story of mine, Save Me, check it out if you haven't already). Review, review, review! Please let me know if this s worth continuing. I am already pretty busy with my other two stories, so I will only continue if I can see that a decent group of people would like to see it continued. Xoxo

Chapter 1

I lay in bed replaying that interview over and over again in my mind. I didn't know if it was the right thing to say. I struggled with whether or not I should have told Zendaya on national television that she is my number one priority and that I loved her. _I loved her_. I didn't know what Zendaya thought that meant. For all I know she could have thought it was a brotherly thing. The problem was that I didn't…..

I didn't know what to say or what to do. I felt like I was losing her. In a week, the show would be over and I would be on a flight back to NYC and Zendaya would stay here. I couldn't bear to leave her. I had grown way too close to her for that. I feared giving her my heart and get nothing in return. Even if she felt the same way, I would have to go to NYC and she would have to stay here for the projects she was working on. Not to mention that she is still technically a minor. I didn't think I could leave her. It would tear me to shreds.

When angry or upset I had a tendency to talk to myself in Russian. The problem was that I didn't even realize when I did it and Maks usually easily overheard it. It was excruciatingly embarrassing. And for the umpteenth time, he did just that.

"YA mogu voyti ?" a voice as I recognized as Maks asked on the other side of the door. I mumbled yes, the sound muffled because of my hands over my face. I heard him enter and sit in the white wingback chair on the opposite wall. "Bro, what's going on here?" Maks asked, initiating the conversation. I knew Maks was genuinely worried if he was speaking in English like that. I groaned in response, not giving him an answer. "Talk to me, Val," Maks persisted. "Zendaya," I replied, her voice bringing joy and pain all at the same time. "What about her?" Maks asked. He probably knew what I was talking about, but he wanted me to admit it out loud. He once said something about winners only deal with the truth and saying it out loud makes it reality or some psychological shit like that. He swears by Dr. Phil. "I love her," I admitted, peeking through my hands to see my brother's response. His countenance remained serene. "I know, Bro. I think a lot of us do," Maks said, placing his hands behind his head, and leaned back in the chair. I groaned again, not bothering to communicate with words.

"What do I do? Because I have no clue," I admitted, removing my hands from my face to look at Maks from across the room. "The way I see it, you either play all your chips or you fold, Val," Maks said. "You did not just compare my love life to Russian roulette. You know how ironically corny that is?" I asked, slightly humored. "It was unintentional. But Bro, that's exactly what you have to do. If not for your own sake, do it for Zendaya's sake. If she feels the same way, you don't want to let her keep hanging in this place between friends and more than friends. It's just not fair," Maks pointed out. "I see you're point. I'm just afraid that she won't feel the same way. I'm afraid of losing her altogether. I couldn't bear losing her, Maks. I just couldn't," I rambled. "Then you have your answer, Val," Maks said, shifting in his seat. "Yeah, I guess I do. But even if she did, what about after? How would we make it work? What about the fact that she is still jailbait for at least several more months? What about Mama and Papa? What about Kazembe and Claire?" I ranted, feeling overwhelmed. "Val, it'll all work out. What you need to do is get your ass to the studio and talk to her," Maks said. "Yeah, you're right," I assented, hopping up from the bed to grab my keys. "Thanks, Bro," I said, giving him a meaningful look. "Anytime. According to Ma, it's my job," Maks pointed out, smiling. I smiled back at him as I left the bedroom.

I texted Zendaya and asked her to come to the studio a little earlier than usual. That way, I would be able to talk to her without eating into our precious rehearsal time. I hoped that the conversation wouldn't affect our rehearsal afterwards. On the drive there, I attempted to rehearse what I was going to say to her. About five minutes later I realized how ridiculous I was being and that I sounded like a lunatic. I would just wing it. It was really the only option I had at that point.

I sucked in a deep breath as I entered the studio. I walked in to find Zendaya doing her usual pre-rehearsal stretching. I felt my nerves increase dramatically, and I forcefully suppressed them to the best of my ability. "Hey, babe, can we talk before we start rehearsing?" I said as I stopped a couple of feet in front of her. She smiled, but I could detect a trace of worry that had touched her eyes. She patted the floor next to her, signaling me sit beside her.

"What's on your mind, Val?" Zendaya initiated with intense curiosity. "Well, I was thinking about the show last night an-" "I know, I could've done sooo much better. I'm sorry I failed you," Zendaya interrupted. "You did amazing, Zendayachka. I'm so proud of you. But that's not what I'm getting at," I explained as her face contorted with puzzlement. "In that interview with Brooke I said that I loved you. And I want you to know that I truly do mean that," I saw her about to speak when I put my hand out to stop her. "But what I want to tell you is _exactly_ what I mean by that," I explained. "I know, I know, we're like siblings and you love me like the little sister you never had," Zendaya remarkedas she fiddled with the evil eye necklace I gave her, her voice acerbic "And that's exactly why I needed to talk to you. You're so _wrong_, Zendayachka. You need to know that I love you in a very passionate and very non-sibling way. I don't just love you, Z, I'm _in_ love with you," I explained passionately, feeling so much better when it was finally out in the open.

She shook her head in disbelief. She refused to believe in what I had told her. I needed to _show_ her how I felt. "Well, would your "brother" do this?" I asked, beginning to feel the onset of desperation and frustration. Before she could ask what I meant, I pulled her roughly to my chest (I had way too much emotion going on to try and be gentle) and pulled her face to mine. My lips descended upon hers urgently, trying to prove my feelings for her. At first, I felt her freeze, and her lips were unmoving. After I few moments, I felt her begin to melt into me. I beckoned her with my lips to continue. In response, Zendaya pushed me into the adjacent lounge, hitting my shoulder on the door in the process.

She wasted no time, and soon I found myself pushed onto one of the several couches in the room. I knew she was inexperienced in this department, and I began to sense her insecurity. She most likely thought I had kissed so many women that she could hardly compare. The thing was is this kiss was so much incredibly better than any other kiss I had ever experienced. I was trying to be as gentle as possible, but Zendaya was making it incredibly difficult. I thought about ending the series of kisses several times, but could never go through it. Zendaya persisted with more kisses. It was becoming increasingly impossible to stop.

A few moments later, I began to hear voices and footsteps outside the walls of the lounge. I don't know how in the hell I was able to hear anything at all, considering I was pretty caught up in the present situation. As the voices and footsteps drew closer and closer to the lounge door, I was able to gather enough coherency to pull away from Zendaya.

A look of sincere disappointment crossed her face and I couldn't help myself. I pulled her tightly against my chest, kissing the top of her head. Both the voices and the footsteps soon faded away into a distant corridor. False alarm, apparently. "What are we going to do, Val?" she asked as she plled away to look at me. I began drowning in her big,warm, and brown eyes. "All we can do, fight for this," I replied, staring deep into her eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey guys. I know, I know-this story kinda fell to the wayside. My schedule, as it often does, gets a little bit crazy. Also, I just recently received my inspiration on how to continue this story I had begun on a sudden whim and never really followed through with. Many of you will be kinda confused on the two year leap I take in this chapter. However, I feel like the fast forward button was really the only way I could actually continue this story. I will, however, fill bits and pieces of that empty two year time line throughout the next couple of chapters or so. Honestly, it would be pretty impossible for any kind of feasible relationship to happen between Val and Zendaya until she was legal if we're being realistic here. So, here goes nothing Enjoy and review (I can and will never get enough of your guys' feedback) ( Sorry its shorter, it's kind of a Segway into the future chapters xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Chapter 2

I felt like I had absolutely no control over my body. I was bouncing up and down in my seat like a five year old on a sugar high. The flight attendant shot Maks a worried and confused look. "Vy budete sidet' na meste ? ty pugayesh' etoy bednoy devushke. My prizemlimsya cherez chas -poltora. Yesli vy ne mozhete usidet' na meste YA zastavlyu vodku vy do vashego gorla podvypivshikh dostatochno, chtoby spat' (will you sit still? you're scaring this poor girl. We'll be landing in an hour and a half. If you can't sit still I'll force vodka down your throat till your tipsy enough to sleep)" Maks threatened with a severe tone.

"Bro, it's been _two years. Two agonizingly long, painful, torturous years. _To be so close without being physically there is _excruciating_," I groaned, putting my face in my hands. Just thinking about how much time had gone by frustrated me to no foreseeable end.

"I know, I know. But in three hours max, you'll be with her again. You'll make it. I will personally see to it there you are there at the earliest possible second tonight," Maks said, trying to keep me calm.

I couldn't prove it, but I had a sneaking suspicion that my dear brother Maksim had slipped _something_ in to whatever I was drinking because the next thing I remember after that conversation was waking up on a plane that was on the tar mat at JFK.

No more than a half an hour later, Maks and I were dressed in tuxedoes leaving our NYC apartment to one of NYC's premiere restaurant/lounges located a block from Times Square. I tried my absolute best to remain as still and calm as possible. The excitement was definitely building, though.

Zendaya's gift was burning a hole in the pocket of my suit jacket. The small, blue box felt like it weighed twenty-five pounds as it rested in the pocket. My mouth went dry as I thought about presenting it to her. I hadn't physically seen her in over six months. Our schedules hadn't allowed for anymore face-to-face visits since then. Anxiety slowly crept over me, filling my mind with a million what ifs. The biggest "what if" was if she had changed in some way and forgot about me. Hell, she didn't even know I was coming tonight. (Kazembe and Claire had thought it would be nice if I were to surprise Zendaya with my appearance. Originally, I wasn't going to be able to make it because of my hectic schedule, but Kazembe graciously moved the date of her party by a week. However, we all decided that we wouldn't tell Zendaya I was actually coming).

Before I could dwell on the worst case scenarios I had conjured up during the limo ride, the limo had stopped and the driver was opening the door. I flew out of the limousine like a bat out of Hell. Maks stepped out much more gracefully and rolled his eyes conspicuously at me. I was almost positive that he'd never fully understand.

Once we walked up to the entrance to the restaurant, a massive bouncer towered over us with a secret service-like ear piece and a clip board that held the official guest list. "Last name, please?" the man bellowed, his voice having the tone of a tuba.

"We're both under Chmerkovskiy," I answered, hoping the man wouldn't take ten years to try to match up the spelling of our last name to the way it sounded.

"Mr. Coleman, Mr. Chmerkovskiy has just arrived," the bouncer said into some kind of spy device thing on his meaty wrist. I felt sort of a V.I.P. at that point. A few minutes later, Kazembe strolled out of the restaurant dressed in a suit.

"Chmerkovskiy! Good to see you! Oh, and you too Maks," Kazembe greeted us with a smile and a handshake.

"It's really nice to see you too, Kazembe," I replied, smiling. On the inside, I was screaming for Kazembe to hurry up and bring me inside to see Zendaya. I was getting impatient. Fast.

"Okay, we have Zendaya blindfolded inside. We told her we have a surprise for her birthday. I'm going to bring you in, and then we'll take the blindfold off," he explained, using gestures as he explained. "Take care of my little girl," Kazembe added, giving me a pleading look saying that to some degree he was aware of what soon (I prayed) would happen.

"Always," I promised, giving him a sincere look.

"Maks and I followed Kazembe into a section of the restaurant. The entire place was _packed_ wall-to-wall with people. At this point, everyone had formed a circle around the center of the space around something. As we neared the center of the circle, I realized that it was _her_.

I walked into the center of the circle as Maks moved off to the side. I stood opposite of Zendaya, just a few feet away from her. "On the count of three, I'm gonna take off the blindfold, Daya," Kazembe said. "One…..two…..three,".

Kazembe removed her blindfold and her eyes met mine. She was breathtaking. Before I could form another thought, Zendaya was running towards me. I picked her up in my arms and spun her around. At that moment, those hundreds of people and her parents didn't exist-it was just her and I.

"You came, you came," Z mumbled into my shoulder. Her arms had a tenacious grip around my torso as if he she was hanging on for dear life.

"Of course Z, I wouldn't miss it for the world," I whispered into her ear as I tightened my arms around her. By then, everyone had dispersed throughout the restaurant, continuing on with the party.

I grabbed Z's hand and towed her up to the second floor of the restaurant and out onto the balcony. I pulled out the box from Tiffany's out of my suit jacket pocket and presented it to her saying, "happy birthday, Zendaya,". Her eyes lit up as she saw the box. With a little apprehension, she opened the box carefully.

She removed a platinum chain with a letter "V" pendant hanging from it. She stared at it inquisitively for a few moments. Her eyes followed the pendulum-like movement of the necklace, almost entranced by it.

"It's beautiful, Valentin," she murmured, turning her eyes onto my face and away from the necklace. I knew when she used my full name I had either done something horrible or something wonderful. In this case, it was the positive scenario.

"Can you put in on me?" she asked as she carefully handed the necklace back to me. I nodded and gestured for her to turn around so that her back would face me.

She turned around and lifted her brown curls up off of her neck. I easily placed the necklace around her neck and secured the clasp. My fingers inevitably brushed against her collarbone and I felt the goose bumps that rose onto her skin.

I turned her back around to face me. When I looked back at her, a huge grin fell upon her face. She was practically beaming. _You did good, Val_, I thought. A second or so later, I realized she was playing with the pendant.

I closed the mere five inch gap between us and pulled her into my arms. "In case you didn't realize, Daya, that necklace means that you're _mine_, now. _All mine_," I whispered into her ear.


End file.
